Inseam trimming device



July 5, 1938. 1". J. CUTHBERT INSEAM TRIMMING DEVICE Filed March 6, 1935 INV'ENTOR %r A RNEY Av VAVA Patented July 5, 1938 PATENT OFFICE 7 INSEAM TRIMMING DEVICE Thomas J. Cuthbert, South Weymouth, Mass,

assignor to Compo Shoe Machinery Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application March 6, 1935, Serial No. 9,576

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to trimming operations employed in the manufacture of shoes, and more particularly to trimming adjacent the inseam of a welted upper.

5 General objects of the invention are to provide an improved method and apparatus for closely trimming adjacent the inseam of a welted upper.

More particularly, objects of the invention are to provide an improved method and apparatus lofor reducing the height of the surplus lasting material located closely beyond the inseam stitching of a welted upper, with consequent improvements in the quality of the shoe such as a smoother and closer fit between the outsole and [6 upper, material reduction in the amount of filler material used between the outsole and upper, and increased flexibility due to closer trimming of the surplus materials adjacent the inseam.

A further object of the invention is to provide 30: a method for closely trimming the lasting material beyond the inseam of a welted upper, which leaves these materials in a roughened condition that renders them well suited for subsequent permanent cement attachment to an outsole.

55 Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others,

I and the apparatus embodying features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which are adapted to efiect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be l indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in

.0 which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom view of a welted shoe upper prior to the application thereto of the inseam trimming methods embodying the principles of the present invention; a

.5 Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 but showing a conventional inseam trimming operation at the right side thereof;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view 0 showing, at the right side thereof, a further inseam trimming operation, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, and showing a cement attached outsole at the left side of the illustration 5? Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an inseam trimming rasp embodying principles of the present invention; and

Fig. 5 is an edge elevation taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 4, part thereof being shown in section.

In accordance with the present invention, a welted shoe may be formed by providing a welted upper of any conventional or desired form, as for example, a Goodyear welted shoe, then trimming the inseam of such shoe by conventional apparatus heretofore in use, and after such conventional trimming, effecting a further reduction in the height of the surplus lasting materials above the inseam by means of the method and equipment about to be described. Thereafter, a requisite amount of filler may be applied to the shoe bottom and an outsole attached to the welt by means of cement or stitching.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a conventional welted shoe upper of the Goodyear type, comprising an insole l0 channeled as at H to provide a channel leaf which is upturned to form the inner half of an insole lip or rib 12 to which an upper I3 is temporarily lasted by means of staples M which may be inserted by a Goodyear stapling machine. Preferably, though not necessarily, the insole is provided with a reinforcing layer l5 of canvas or other fabric which is adhesively attached to the bottom of the insole and to the side of the lip l2 prior to the lasting operation, as is well understood in the art.

A welt I6 is attached to the upper and insole lip by means of inseam stitching H. In making this seam, a 4, 5 or 6 cord linen thread is used instead of the 7, 8 or 10 cord cotton thread which has customarily been used for welt shoes of Goodyear stitch construction. The inseam stitching is located as close to the insole as possible, being located well down in the bottom of the insole channel II and in a groove l8 with which the welt is preferably provided.

The upper, thus lasted, is then subjected to an insole trimming operation which removes the bulk of the surplus lasting materials located beyond the inseam. This may be done by means of any of the conventional machines used for this purpose such as those employing a rotary cutter, a knife or toothed band. At the right side of Fig. 2 such surplus lasting materials are shown as having just been trimmed by a rotary knife IS. The use of such conventional trimmers, even under the best conditions heretofore applicable, leaves an appreciable residue 20 of lasting materials beyond the inseam.

After the surplus lasting materials have thus been trimmed entirely around the inseam, the height of the material located closely above the inseam at 20 is further reduced by subjecting it to the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. This comprises a heavy metal disk 2| having its periphery convexly curved along a plane passing through the axis of the disk-as indicated at 22. A plurality of integral picking teeth 23 are struck up from the material at the disk, and these are separated intospaced groups by peripheral notches 24. Highly satisfactory trimming results are obtained by making such disk with a 4 inch outside diameter and a inch thickness from solid tool steel. The picking teeth are rather well spaced, adjacent teeth being spaced laterally about of an inch and circumferentially about of an inch. Six notches 24 are preferably provided at equal distances around the periphery, each notch having a width along the circumference of the disk of about of an inch. A proper peripheral speed for trimming the surplus materials at the inseam of mens: shoes is obtained by operating the particularly described disk at a speed ofaround 2600 R. P. M. In view of the solidity and weight of the disk, it has considerable momentum at operating speed, and the picking teeth 23 are capable of rasping the surplus lasting materials at the inseam to shreds,

;' tearing some of this material completely away and beating or pounding the rest of it over toward the center of the shoe bottom and into the channel H as shown at theright side of Fig. 3, the rasp being operated transversely across the inseam in a direction toward the interior of the shoe. The separation of the teeth into spaced groups has been found to effect the rasping and beating action in a highly desirable manner, and it'may be that the advancing edges 23 of the notches contribute somewhat to the beating action. The complete rasp action is unlike a conventional inseam pounding in that the surplus materials are actually shredded and torn off as well as beaten over, and the operator can obtain a much closer trim at the inseam than has heretofore been possible.

After subjecting the entire inseam portion of the shoe to this last described trimming and beating action, a suitable filler 25 is applied to the bottom of the shoe within the inseam rib. The amount of filler material needed is materially lessened because of the reduced height of the inseam rib, and with a somewhat round bottomed last the central forepart portion of the insole will engage directly against the outsole 26 as indicated at 21. This is of considerable advantage in that it prevents shifting or lumping of the filler during wear of the shoe. The outsole 26 is adapted to be fastened to the upper, preferably by meansof cement 28, and the contacting faces of the outsole and welt may be suitably roughed to facilitate this cement union. The described inseam trimming operation involving use of the rasp 2| leaves the materials above the inseam in a flat roughened condition which renders them well suited for cement attachment to the adjacent portion of the outsole. While the present method of inseam trimming thus is particularly advantageous when the outsole is permanently cement attached, certain benefits thereof are also obtained when the outsole is stitched to the welt in the conventional manner, and the present invention is intended to be applicable to the manufacture of shoes of this type as well as to cemented shoes.

Although the inseam trimming operation has been described as occurring in two steps, the first comprising the conventional knife or toothed band trimming heretofore in use, and the second the rasping and beating trimming herein disclosed, it will be obvious that, if desired, the entire trimming operation may be accomplished by means of this last named means alone; However, at the present time the use of a conventional trimming operation for removing the bulk of the lasting materials beyond the inseam is preferred, the particular advantage of the present invention being in its ability to provide a closer trim inwardly from the point where conventional trimming machines heretofore have left off.

The use of a relatively fine strong thread at inseam- I! also facilitates the operation of the rasp 2l, permitting it to be applied with less danger of catching and tearing the insteam threads. Because of the increased removal of the upstanding lasting materials beyond the inseam, the shoe is more flexible, and the outsole is closely and snugly fitted thereto with much less filler material located between it and the insole.

While a conventional welt type of Goodyear stitched shoe has herein been illustratively described as being operated on in accordance with the present invention, it will be apparent that the advantages of such invention are generally applicable wherever a close trim in the vicinity of the welt seam is desired, regardless of the particular method of constructing: the welted upper.

It will be apparentthat there have been provided a method and apparatus which are well suited to fulfil their functions.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above method and in the constructions set forth, which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the-accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A device for trimming surplus material beyond the inseam of a welted shoe with a picking and beating action, comprising a rotatable heavy solid metallic disk shaped body having flat sides and a periphery convexly curve-d along a plane passing through the axis of the disk body with the greatest diameter of saiddisk body positioned in a plane between said flat sides, picking'teeth extending from said periphery, said disk having a series of transverse peripheral notches extending from side to side thereof and separating its periphery into spaced picking and beating sections, and means for rotating said disk with sufficient momentum to pick and beat said surplus material.

2. A device for trimming surplus material beyond the inseam of a welted shoe with a picking and beating action, comprising a rotatable heavy metallic disk shaped body having flat sides and a periphery convexly curved along a. plane passing through the axis of said body, said disk having a series of transverse peripheral notches extending from side to side thereof and separating its margin into a series of picking and beating sections, picking teeth extending from each of said sections, and means for imparting sufiicient momentum to said disk to pick and beat said surplus material.

3. A device for trimming surplus plies of materials beyond the inseam of a welted shoe with a picking and beating action, comprising a rotatable heavy metallic disk shaped body having a periphery convexly curved along a plane passing through the axis of the disk shaped body with the greatest diameter of said body positioned in a plane between its lateral sides, said body hav" ing a series of transverse peripheral notches each of materially greater width than the normal combined width of the inseam materials to be trimmed, said notches extending from side to side of said body and separating its periphery into a series of picking and beating sections, and spaced picking teeth struck up from each of said sections.

4. A device for trimming surplus plies of materials beyond the inseam of a welted shoe with a picking and beating action, comprising a rotatable heavy metallic disk shaped body having its periphery convexly curved along a plane passing through the axis of the disk shaped body, said body having a series of transverse notches spaced about its periphery, each notch being of materially greater Width than the normal combined width of the plies of inseam materials to be trimmed, said notches extending from side to side of said body and separating its periphery into a series of picking and beating sections each having a beating corner at its forward edge defined by one of said notches and extending substantially parallel with the axis of said body, and a plurality of spaced picking teeth extending from each of said sections.

THOMAS J. CUTHBERT. 

